Trial reportArchives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition2006
Sucrose and non-nutritive sucking for the relief of pain in screening for retinopathy of prematurity: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Non-pharmacological pain relief interventions in preterm neonates undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity: a systematic review.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Sucrose for analgesia in newborn infants undergoing painful procedures.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Guidelines for procedural pain in the newborn.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2009Guideline
- Effect of magnetic auricular acupuncture on pain during ophthalmic examination of the newborn: a multicenter, triple-blinded, randomized controlled study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- Prevention of Pain During Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity: A Randomized Control Trial Comparing Breast Milk, 10% Dextrose and Sterile Water.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2020Trial
- Oral Dextrose for Pain Management during Laser Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity under Topical Anesthesia.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2015Trial
- Oral glucose for pain relief during examination for retinopathy of prematurity: a masked randomized clinical trial.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2013Trial
- Effect of topical anesthesia and age on pain scores during retinopathy of prematurity screening.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2010Trial
- Kangaroo mother care diminishes pain from heel lance in very preterm neonates: a crossover trial.BMC pediatrics · 2008Trial
- A Randomized Control Trial of Oral Sucrose Solution for Prevention of Hypoglycemia in High Risk Infants.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Trial
- Intranasal fentanyl to reduce pain intensity associated with retinopathy of prematurity screening in preterm infants: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Impact of colostrum combined with non-nutritive sucking in non-invasive ventilated very low birth weight preterm infant.BMC pediatrics · 2025Observational
- Interdisciplinary collaborative eye examinations to protect preterm infant neurodevelopment: a quality improvement project.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Examining the association between prenatal maternal stress and infant non-nutritive suck.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- Comparison of the Pain-relieving Effects of Human Milk, Sucrose, and Distilled Water during Examinations for Retinopathy of Prematurity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Child health nursing research · 2019Article
- What do Neonatal Nurses Know and Feel About Pain Management During Retinopathy of Prematurity Examination: A Qualitative Research.Florence Nightingale hemsirelik dergisi · 2019Article
- Turkish Neonatal and Turkish Ophthalmology Societies consensus guideline on the retinopathy of prematurity.Turk pediatri arsivi · 2018Article
- Effect of Multisensory Stimulation on Pain of Eye Examination in Preterm Infants.Anesthesiology and pain medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundScreening is necessary for infants at risk of retinopathy of prematurity. Despite local anaesthetic drops, infants find eye examinations distressing, displaying behavioural and physiological changes indicating acute pain. Oral sucrose and non-nutritive sucking reduce pain responses associated with invasive procedures.
objectiveTo evaluate the use of oral sucrose and/or pacifier for reducing pain responses during eye examinations.
methodsForty infants <32 weeks gestation or <1500 g birth weight, in two neonatal units, were randomised to one of four interventions administered two minutes before their first screening examination: 1 ml sterile water as placebo (group 1, n = 10), 1 ml 33% sucrose solution (group 2, n = 10), 1 ml sterile water with pacifier (group 3, n = 9), or 1 ml 33% sucrose solution with pacifier (group 4, n = 11). Examinations were videotaped. Two observers, blind to the intervention, assessed recordings. Pain responses were scored using the premature infant pain profile (PIPP).
resultsThe groups were similar in gestation, birth weight, and age at examination. Mean PIPP scores were 15.3, 14.3, 12.3, and 12.1 for groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference in PIPP score between groups (p = 0.023). Infants randomised to pacifiers scored lower than those without pacifiers (p = 0.003). There was no difference between groups receiving sucrose and those receiving water (p = 0.321).
conclusionsNon-nutritive sucking reduced distress responses in infants undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity. The difference in response was large enough to be detected by a validated assessment tool. No synergistic effect of sucrose and pacifier was apparent in this group.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.